Within Reason
by The Amazing Miss M
Summary: A slip. A fall. Grace is all within reason.


Title: Within Reason 

Author: Along Came the Spider

Rating: PG-13 so far

Summary: A slip. A fall. Grace is all within reason.

Comments: This was supposed to be a responce to a challenge, however it has taken on a life of it's own.

Chapter One: Play On

Snow covered the ground in unbroken white innocence. Though it was only October winter had set in and looked like it was there for the long haul. On the steps of Hogwarts a figure stood and gazed out. The chill, which should have bothered him, was dismissed as a mere annoyance, as was his current train of thought.

_'Do you want him to like you?'_ He asked himself sharply. _'Because if you don't feel free to continue with your dissent.'_ He was satisfied when no voice piped up. He smiled, though it wasn't a smile his friends would have recognized.

He took a deliberate step, defiling the snow with his foot. He continued toward the forest, secure in the knowledge that no one else would be venturing out in the cold.

Just past the edge of the forest he paused and pulled out a piece of paper. **_'The blood of a Dansky Tree, when combined with the tears of a Prowert Flower, has the potential to free a person from this world.'_**

He had asked if this meant the mixture was a Poison. _"No,"_ he had been told. _"It is more like a drug, though it hasn't been made in years and the last people to take it weren't to clear on what happened."_

The problem had always been that the Prowert Flower withered in heat, and rarely lived past the first week of October. _"You'd need a blizzard to get that tear." _Maybe things were looking up though, it was a few days into October and a blizzard had descended. So here he was trying to find a Prowert Flower glade that Neville had told him about. Not that Neville had wanted to tell him about it, but all he had needed to do was to get the other boy talking about Herbology and rare plants and it popped out.

_"Professor Sprout took me into the forest the other day,"_ The Gryffindor had bragged. _"As we were heading past a group of Whomping Willows we came upon a whole field of Prowerts. She wouldn't let me clip one though. Said the heat of my hand would kill it for sure."_

**Bang!** A crash alerted him to the nearby Whomping Willows. He counted the number of willows that were moving on the side of the path. _'Ten seems like a group to me.'_

He moved up the path, looking left and right. He cursed Neville for not having told him which side of the path the glade was on. He cleared the Willows and felt all his breath leave his body.

He had seen pictures of the Prowert Flower, but nothing prepared him for the sheer beauty he was looking at. The blue flowers nearly glowed against the snow. Looking out it was as if there was a glowing ocean in the middle of the forest.

He leaned down to the closest flower. The flower, sensing his presence turned to face him. _'Now to make it cry.'_

"You are the Ugliest flower I have ever laid eyes on!" He exclaimed. The sweet sent filled his nose as the flower began to tremble.

"Ugh!" He pulled back a little. "You smell like a rotting corpse!"

The flowers around the one he had first talked to began to tremble as well.

"What?" He asked the flower. "You thought you were the prettiest flower? Psh! You are so low on the scale that even a Giant would go out of his way to avoid coming near you."

He smiled as moisture collected on the flower's petals. He reached out and gently shook the flower catching the drops in a plastic bag.

"Thank you," He told the flower softly. "You really are the most beautiful flower in the world." He stroked the flower which leaned into his touch. He got the impression that the flower was purring.

He finally straightened up and shook the snow off his robes. For the first time that day the cold of the air really hit him.

_'Time to get inside.'_

_

* * *

_

The fire in the Gryffindor common room was warm, especially after the Potions Classroom. Harry sat down next to it in relief.

"Merlin!" Ron moaned as he joined his best friend, "I'm beginning to believe that Snape just keeps the dungeon freezing cold for the Gryffindor classes."

"And last year you were complaining about having to take potions with the Slytherins. Just be grateful that this year we're on our own." Hermione grumbled. "And remember, you didn't _have_ to take potions."

"So?" Ron rolled his eyes. "I fail to see that as a problem, it is my _right_ to complain."

Hermione rolled her eyes back as she sat down. "Harry?"

Harry blinked, then looked at her in a questioning manner.

"Are you okay?" She narrowed her eyes. "You are being very quiet."

Harry shrugged.

"You didn't have a nightmare last night," Ron said with authority, a look crossed his face before he too narrowed his eyes at Harry. "You didn't. Did you?"

"No!" Harry protested. "I'm just tired."

"We're concerned about you is all," Hermione soothed.

Harry sighed. "I just haven't been feeling well."

"Did you go see Madam Pomfrey?" Ron asked. "Is that where you were when you didn't show up for Potions?"

"No and no." Harry took of his glasses and rubbed his eyes. "I went for a walk outside."

"In this weather?" Hermione gasped. "You could have frozen to death!"

"Yes mother." Harry shook his head before replacing his glasses.

Hermione rolled her eyes again. "Why do I bother?"

Harry grinned at her. "Because you love me."

"And why do I do _that_?" Hermione asked with a bite.

"Because I am cute?" Harry batted his eye lashes at her.

Hermione snorted. "I'm sure."

"So did you go to visit Hagrid on your death defying trip?" Ron changed the subject.

"No," Harry sighed. "I just wanted to be alone."

"Do you want us to go then?" Ron began to stand.

"No," Harry sighed again. "Just shut up."

Hermione hugged Harry, leaving the two boys without a word.

"What's with her?" asked Ron.

Harry rolled his eyes. "I think she went to study."

"She is already Head girl, what does she need to study _now _for." Ron grumped.

"She is Hermione," Harry smirked at the redhead. "She needs to study per the course."

"I wonder if she is going to be like this after we're married." The other boy sighed.

Harry cocked his head. "You're getting married?"

"Well duh!" Ron looked at his friend as if he had grown a third head.

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Have you asked her yet?"

"Not as such," Ron shrugged.

"Which means?" Harry motioned for him to go on.

"Which means he mentioned marriage, the future, children, and us in the broadest terms possible." Hermione snorted as she sat back down.

Harry echoed her snort as Ron blushed to the roots of his hair. "Gee 'Mione, _why_ are you still with this bozo?"

"Sometimes I just wonder," Hermione said pointedly opening her book.

"So run away with me," Harry suggested as he slung his arm around her shoulder. "I'm sure we could have a lot of fun."

"I'm sure we could," Hermione laughed. "But for some reason I don't think that you have marriage in mind."

"I'm wounded," Harry pulled his arm away from her. "Don't you think I'm serious about you?"

"Oh you're serious about me all right," she leaned toward him. "I just think that since you're gay, Ron is a better shot at getting me married."

"Is that all I mean to you?" the boy in questioned pouted.

"Idiot," Hermione muttered under her breath.

"I get no respect." Said Ron as he stuck out his tongue.

"Tell me about it," Harry agreed. He raised his eyebrow as his two best friends gave him incredulous looks.

"Harry," Hermione's brow was creased. "_Everyone_ respects you!"

"Yeah," Ron agreed. "You're the boy who is going to defeat Voldemort, thus saving all human existence. Who doesn't respect that?"

"There are loads of people who don't respect _me_!" snarled Harry. "They all respect the image, just not the person who has to live with that image."

"Has someone been putting you down recently?" asked Hermione. "You're not usually this down."

"It's the weather." Harry shrugged.

"It is rather dismal out there." Hermione allowed.

The golden Trio of Gryffindor sighed in unison.

Ron suddenly jumped up. "Come on!"

The other two looked at each other.

"What's he up to now?" Harry asked.

"I never claimed to understand how his mind worked." Hermione protested as she stood up. "I just claimed to love him in spite of it."

"And do you?" asked Harry.

"Do I what?" a raised eyebrow accompanied Hermione's reply.

"_Do_ you love him in spite of his mind." Harry asked patiently.

"Harry!" Hermione looked shocked. "How can you ask such a question."

"Well," Harry shrugged. "You are the one who said she 'claimed' to love him."

"Gay or not you are still a man!" snorted Hermione.

"Yep." Harry grinned. "I am so glad you noticed."

Hermione stuck her tongue out at him as she grabbed his hand and dragged him to his feet.

"Where were you two?" groused Ron when they caught up with him outside of the common room.

"We weren't that far behind you," Hermione kissed his cheek.

"Now where is this fire you think we need to attend?" asked Harry.

"Party!" Ron grandly announced.

"Party?" Hermione and Harry asked.

Ron nodded. "Party."

"Without permission?" Hermione looked askance.

Ron flushed, "The um... Ravenclaw seventh years...they asked Ernie..."

"Well, at least they asked _someone_ in a position of authority." Hermione sighed. "I just don't understand why no one told _me._"

"Because they thought you would tell them off for partying during the Exams." Ron said at a level that was no quite a whisper.

Harry burst into laughter, which quickly brought the ire that Hermione was feeling toward Ron, to be extended to him as well. "What is so funny?" she demanded.

"The _Ravenclaws_ are scared of _someone else's_ study habits." Harry chortled.

"It's not _that_ funny!" Hermione said as she started laughing.

"I know," gasped Harry. "But I guess I've had it coming for a while now."

"We're going to miss this party if we don't get moving." Ron said dryly as he watched his two best friends hold each other up.

"Lead on," said Hermione as she caught her breath.

Ron gave the other two another look, just to make sure they weren't going to collapse again, before leading the way down to the Kitchens.

"What kind of party is being held down here?" asked Hermione.

"An seventh year inter-house ice cream party." Ron explained as he tickled the pear. "Of course the invites were by word of mouth...."

Hermione, not waiting for him to finish, nearly flew down the stairs. Harry and Ron exchanged glances as all the talking that had originally floated up to them came to faltering stop.

"We'd better get down there...." Ron told Harry, or rather he would have told Harry, but Harry was already halfway down. "Face it Weasley," he muttered to himself, "you're getting slow."

The scene as Harry entered the Kitchen was nearly enough to send him into another fit of laughter. All the gathered seventh years had frozen in shock at the sight of their Head girl, oblivious to the reactions of those around her, humming to herself as she piled flavor after flavor into her bowl.

"Susan!" Harry called to the closest of the frozen seventh years.

Susan blinked and, as if released from a spell, all the seventh years began to move again. "Yes Harry?"

"Nothing," grinned Harry. "I just wanted to see if I could jolt everyone out of their trances."

"I never expected Hermione to show up," Susan shrugged. "Or not to chew us out if she did."

"Both Ron and I have always contended that you all should give her a chance." Harry pointed out. "She loves ice cream, and if she gets the urge to study she'll just pull out a book and do it. Sort of like Terry over there."

They both looked over at the Ravenclaw, who was buried under a pile of parchments, but still managed to find his mouth with the spoon in his hand.

"I guess we haven't been to nice to her have we?" sighed Susan.

"I'm sure she hasn't noticed," Ron said as he joined them. He ignored the look that Harry shot his way.

The room quieted down a second time. This time, however, the occupants were all staring tensely at the stairs. Harry turned as well, in time to see the seventh year Slytherins reach the last steps into the Kitchen.

"Oh look," Pansy Parkinson sneered. "The cows are all here."

"Ice cream." Gregory Goyle grunted.

"Yes, yes." Millicent Bulstrode agreed. "There is indeed ice cream here."

"You know," Draco Malfoy spoke up. "I don't think you are right Pansy."

The Slytherin party all turned to look at Pansy. "How so my dear?" she asked sweetly.

"The assembled students are not cows, though some are certainly cow like." Draco raised an eyebrow at Hannah Abbot and Ernie Macmillan. "On the whole, they are all sheep!" He gave a grand sweep of his hand.

"Baa!" Pansy smirked.

"Is there anything you wanted Malfoy?" Harry stepped out to the front of the group.

"I'm not sure Potter," Draco stepped into the Kitchen proper. "I'll have to take a look and see."

"How nice," sneered Ron. "The Lord of the Manor is coming slumming."

"I'm so glad that you've accepted your lot in life, Weasley." Pansy smiled. "Now you'll be happy when your life ends up in the gutter."

Ron's face flushed and he took a step forward. Harry grabbed the redhead's arm before he could raise his hand. Harry's eyes caught Draco's and the blond boy smirked.

"Ice Cream," Goyle said again.

"You've already said that," Blaise Zambini rolled his eyes.

"Quiet Zambini!" snapped Millicent.

"No squabbling children," Draco turned to look back at them. "We must set an example for the little ones."

"Stuff it, Malfoy." Zambini brushed past the Slytherin leader.

Harry noticed Draco's brow crease. "Malfoy!" he called the boy's attention to him.

"Potter!" mimicked Draco.

"Have you figured out what you want yet?"

"Oh look," Draco let out a long suffering sigh and looked at his entourage. "Scarhead is trying to be funny."

"Don't strain yourself," Pansy advised. "We don't want you to go _Potty_ again."

Millicent giggled, drawing Pansy's ire. "Millie, don't make that noise! It is singularly unattractive. Now that everyone here has head you, you might not even be able to find a husband among the Mudbloods." Millicent frowned, but quieted obediently.

"_We're_ sheep?" asked Hermione. "Seems to me like you got that a little mixed up."

"More like they're goats." Ron put in. "What with their mean tempers and all."

"No," Ernie grinned. "They are hyenas. Scavengers and matriarchal."

The majority of the seventh years burst into laughter. Harry was surprised to notice that Blaise Zambini was laughing along with the rest.

Draco, instead of being offended, merely bowed. "Well played."

Pansy's mouth dropped, "Draco...."

Draco raised an eyebrow at her. "There is nothing here for us."

Pansy stared at him hard before nodding. "Let us depart."

Pansy and Draco turned as one and headed back up the stairs.

"Ice Cream," Goyle said morosely as he and the others followed.

"Cheer up!" said Blaise as he detached himself from the rest of the seventh years. "I've got enough ice cream to share with you."

Once the Kitchen portrait had shut behind the Slytherins the remaining group burst into another round of laughter.

"How's all this been for your mood?" Ron asked Harry.

Harry grinned. "For some odd reason its been wonderful."

Ron hugged him then headed over to his girlfriend.

Once along Harry turned to look at where the Slytherins had gone. _'Well that was odd.'_

_

* * *

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End Notes:

- Hey all. Yeah this was in responce to a Harry Potter Dark Lord challenge. At least it was at the beginning. Now I have no clue what it is, it just _is._

- Please Review.


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